TuscMoms.com

Check out this story about the flu and kids. It says children are key spreaders and if you live in a kid-friendly neighborhood the vaccine is especially a good idea.

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We actually don't do flu shots for us or the kids, but we DO practice really good hand washing during the winter months.

Caden hasn't had a flu shot yet, but we will get her one this year. I want one too! I have read articles, similar to the one you posted Kristi, about young kids dying from illnesses that start from the flu, so we aren't taking any chances.

I am thinking about taking Katie in for flu shots, I don't know if they would live it to Emily since she is young, but if they do, Definitely. Me too, I caught the flu last year on Christmas day, horrible, horrible experience.

Unless I can get my hands on a thermisol free vaccine we will not be getting them

Considering last year's flu shot was only 44% effective, Moozle's handwashing is probably a lot more likely to prevent disease than the flu shot is!
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LawMommy - yeah. That's why we don't get them exactly. They aren't very effective AND the side effects mimic flu symtoms.

Plus the whole mercury issue.

I asked our ped the last 3 years, and she says that she always polls her patients when they come in with the flu, and it always shakes out about 50/50 - half of them got the shot, half didn't.

Ok ladies I know you all are prob. sick of hearing about this (i am sorry)=( but I am having the hardest time deciding if I should get my 15 month old the flu shot or not?

I have been researching like crazy and still have mixed feelings about both. I do stay home with her but also get out around other children a few days a week and she has her 18 month check-up at the end of november so i am so scared that she will get it. Although she has a good immune system i guess bc she has only had one ear infection and it was minor.

So my question is what do you ladies think about this? I think I am also going to call her doctor tom and see what he thinks also. I never got one and have never had the flu. I am so stressed out about this. lol

I am with you Lynnlessmom, my daughter is 8 months old and I took her last week and our doctor recommended her having one but I am just not sure. The more I read the more I think maybe I shouldn't. So I too could use some help with this decision. One of her closest little friends goes to daycare and stays sick it seems. She has never gotten anything he has had despite all the hugs and loves that he gives her. I have caught things from him and have yet to pass them on to her but I am really up in the air with this one. HELP!

bump!

As I indicated earlier in this thread, my children won't be getting flu shots. There is serious question (see article on new study below) whether it works at all in children under 5 years of age. That's in addition to its miserable performance last year overall. With the thimerasol issue and possible side effects, doing a risk/benefit analysis, I don't see why anyone would choose to get one. There are well documented risks and apparently very little documented benefit, at least in children under 5, so it is a no-brainer for me.
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Ok I decided to get it! I have talked to a million ppl and done lots of research and i think there are more pros than cons! thanks for everyones advice!=)

One more article to add with a sad reminder that kids can and do die from the flu:

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Although I haven't gotten one yet this season for my daughter, I will. We've gotten them in the past and she's had no problems with the vaccines.

I read the Time news article that LawMommy posted and it says the one study questioning the effectiveness isn't definitive and may have had flaws, so I can't say that persuades me.

In response to LM's question as to why anyone would get it, I guess our answer is that having watched our daughter suffer through the first 15 weeks of her life in the hospital, we'll do what I can to avoid anything like that again.

Yes, the vaccine might not be a perfect match and she still might get sick, but I'm willing to put some faith in the CDC and give it a shot (pun intended). Until I see studies showing that kids 80 kids a year are dying from the thimersol in vaccines, the cost-benefit analysis for me comes down on the side of trying to prevent illnesses that might be preventable through a vaccine.

TuscTransplant, I totally see your point. I think I overstated my position when I asked why anyone would get the vaccine. One study is not definitive, for sure. I think my main problem is that, while yes, the flu can and does kill children (and adults, for that matter), using the flu vaccine might or might not prevent that. In the article that you posted, that story is tragic and very sad, but there is no guarantee that the child would be alive today if she had been vaccinated. But she might be, so I can also see the approach of vaccinating to be on the safe side, in case it does make a difference with children and in case it's effective in any given year, especially if you're making the decision for a child that is in a high-risk catgeory and are not convinced that the risks are significant. So I should backtrack some on yesterday's post that was not thoughtfully made and say that I do actually see the other side and have simply decided, for my kids, the risks outweigh the potential benefit, which I am not convinced is any.
Tusctransplant, is it just me, or does this discussion have the feel of a legal argument?

Niki, the flu nasal spray vaccine does not have thimerosal in it.